Self-closing pendulum-hanger for doors.



J. H. STEWART.

SELF CLOSING PENDULUM HANGER FOR DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-26. I916.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

WITNESSES JOHN H. STEWART, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SELF-CLOSING PENDULUM-HANG-ER FOR DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Dec. 12,1916.

Application filed August 26, 1916. Serial No. 116,989.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. STEWART, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of thecity of New York, Jamaica, borough of Queens, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Self-Closing Pendulum- Hanger for Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to self-closing doors, particularly, although not necessarily, adapted to elevator shafts, whereby the door will automatically close as soon as the conductor in the elevator car releases the door.

The invention has for its general objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of self-closing doors so as to be thoroughly reliable and efficient in use, comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and install, and so designed as to permit the door to be easily opened.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a pendulum hanger whereby the door is suspended to gravitate from open to closed position, the hanger embodying a novelly mounted pendulum bar and a weighted pivoted element disposed above the door and to which the bar is hingedly connected, whereby the bottom of the pendulum bar, which is connected with the door, moves in a horizontal line in the opening and closing movement of the door, so that the latter will move freely without the possibility of jamming.

With such objects in view, and others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be set forth with particularity in the following description and claims appendedhereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of the invention and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the views, Figure 1 is an elevation of the door and the pendulum hanger or suspension means therefor; and Fig. 2 is a side View of the door suspending mechanism with the upper part of the door and doorway in section.

Referring to the drawing, A designates a doorway which is closed by a stationary door B and a sliding door C, which latter swings from the closed dotted-line position, Fig. 1, to the open full-line position, and

vice versa. The bottom 1 of the door C is suspended free from the sill 2, and the top 3 slides in a channeled or equivalent guide 1 disposed horizontally above the doorway.

The self-closing pendulum hanger or door suspending means comprises a bar 5 which has its lower end pivotally connected at 6 with the movable door C in the line of the center of gravity, and the upper end of this bar 5 is hingedly connected at 7 with a lever 8. This lever 8 is fulcrumed at 9 on a vertical line which lies centrally between the extremities of the range of movement of the door, and this lever has an arm 10 on which is a weight 11 which may be adjustable toward or from the pivotal center 9. The bar 5 swings on a fulcrum pin 12 which is mounted below and in the same vertical line with the fulcrum pin 9, and the pin 12 engages in a slot 13 extending longitudinally of the bar 5. By this arrangement the upper end of the bar 5 swings in the arc of a circle concentric with the fulcrum pin 9, while the lower end of the bar 5 swings in a horizontal line, so that the door will move bodily in a horizontal line from open to closed position, or vice versa. To insure easy running the upper corners of the door may have rollers 14 running within the guide 4:-

The closing of the door is effected by the weighted arm 10 which is raised from the dotted line position a to the full line position 6, as the door moves from closed to open position, and it will be noted that in all positions of the arm 10, the weight 11 lies to one side of the vertical line passing through the fulcrum points 9 and 12, and consequently there is a force acting on the door to hold the door closed or move the same closed.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation, together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made when desired as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. The combination of a doorway, a sliding door, a pendulum bar pivotally connected with the door, means located centrally above the doorway for movably mounting the bar, whereby the lower end travels in a horizontal line, and means acting on the bar to urge the same constantly in one direction.

2. The combination of a laterally sliding door, a bar pivotally connected therewith and extending upwardly above the door, a pivoted arm to which the bar is connected, whereby the upper end of the bar travels in the arc of a circle, and a fulcrum slidably connected with the bar, whereby the lower end of the bar moves in a horizontal line.

3. The combination of a laterally sliding door, a bar pivotally connected therewith and extending upwardly above the door, a pivoted arm to which the bar is connected, whereby the upper end of the bar travels in thearc of a circle, a fulcrum slidably connected with the bar and located above the door and vertically in line with the pivot of the said arm, whereby the lower end of the bar moves in a horizontal line, and a horizontal guide with which the top of the door slidably engages.

4. The combination of a laterally sliding door, a lever fulcrumed above the door in a vertical'line located between the limits of movement of the door, a pendulum bar havvertical line located between the limits of Y movement of the door, a pendulum bar hav-V ing its upper end pivotally connected with the lever, a pivotal connection between the lower end of the bar and the door at a point in line with the center of gravity thereof, a fulcrum disposed vertically under the fulcrum of said lever, means on the bar slidably engaging the said fulcrum, whereby the lower end of the bar moves in a horizontal line, and a weighted arm connected with the lever to effect automatically the movement of the door from one extreme position to the other extreme.

JOHN H. STEWART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D C. 

